


All Grown Up

by Steampunk_Chicken



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alice and Kara and Luther didn't go to Canada, Alice and Luther live together, Alice has a job and no one takes her seriously, Alice is secretly smug about this but it's irrelevant to the fic, All three are androids, Feel free to comment asking for more backstory, Gen, I've done so much world building that was never brought up here, Kara visits on weekends, Kara works in another city, Kind of beta'd we pass out like children, Only child androids can eat, Pacifist Best Ending (Detroit: Become Human), Post-Pacifist Best Ending (Detroit: Become Human), Slice of Life sort of, Stranger danger (don't worry it's fine), an attempt was made
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:35:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25192501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Steampunk_Chicken/pseuds/Steampunk_Chicken
Summary: It is difficult to describe what makes a person, or an identity. Many think of it as the sum of your experiences, thoughts and traits. Yet, a lot of people judge based on appearances and preconceived bias.For Alice, this meant that by the time she wanted to get a job and pay rent, people thought she was skipping elementary school. But she was just as mature as anyone else. Just as hardworking.Years down the line, she has a job, Kara’s moved out, Luther works from home and Alice still deals with people treating her like a child. But she doesn’t let that stop her. She is who she is, no one can tell her who she’s supposed to be.
Relationships: Kara & Alice Williams (Detroit: Become Human), Luther & Alice Williams (Detroit: Become Human)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12
Collections: New ERA Discord: Reverse Big Bang





	All Grown Up

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was made as part of a Reverse Big Bang over on the Detroit: New Era discord server (https://discord.gg/GqvNzUm). A reverse big bang is when an artist makes some lovely art, and their paired partner makes a fanfiction based on the art. My artist was the incredible BJtheBreaker, who made a beautiful scene between Alice and Kara, which can be seen at the end of the fic. Detroit: New Era itself is still very active as of July 10th 2020, and links to join it can be found throughout many fics on AO3. Come join us if you ever want to chat about DBH or see amazing fanart!
> 
> In case you're nervous about the "not rated" status of this fic, know that it is between Gen and Teen because Alice has said one (1) swear word. It's all good fun.

When Alice entered room 2A, she was met with a honey blond android that had several dents in his left arm and leg, and thirium stains still visible on his clothes. Upon a fast glance she didn’t see any actively bleeding site, but that didn’t necessarily mean much. His expression had changed when he watched her enter, confusion evident, as she went straight for the case information tablet.

"Hello, my name is Alice, I'll be your technician today." Alice picked up the tablet, and downloaded the patient data before putting it back down. The android’s name was Jasper, he came into the repair bay with a badly broken leg and several thirium leaks, walking assisted by a friend. He had reported falling from his balcony, 2 floors above ground level, due to a collapsing railing. Based on what Alice could see from the damage, his story held up. He’s also been here before, under Cory’s care. She turned around to face him. "Your name is Jasper, right? Model TX-400?" 

When she looked up at his face, Jasper was staring at her in disbelief. To be fair, it was pretty rare for people to not be alarmed or shocked when what appears to be a child claims to be their repair tech. Fortunately, she is not a child.

She waited for a moment for him to respond, and after a few seconds he seemed to shake off some of his surprise and confirmed that she was looking at the right data. She nodded, and decided to answer a few unasked questions she was sure he had, based on the remaining uncertainty on his face. 

"In case you were wondering, I am a YK500 model, but I have the enhanced motor ability upgrade that came out 2 years ago for all child models. Rest assured, my hands are just as precise and capable as any other technician's. You can look up patch yK39.05.6 if you want to know more while I work. Do you have any questions or clarifications for me, or on what you told the receiving staff about your reason for coming?" As she spoke, Alice began gathering the necessary trays of tools, and quickly recited what was recorded.

Jasper, to his credit, finally composed himself. He seemed to be in the more quickly accepting range of her first time clients. "That all sounds right. I had a big thirium leak in my leg, but Gregory- uh, the friend who helped me, clamped the biggest one shut before he drove me over here. It isn’t properly fixed yet, but the person that looked me over first said I was in stable condition?" He sounded slightly unsure about his last statement, probably more concerned than he originally let on to his primary assessment rep. No good to let him worry throughout the whole appointment.

"I'll work on your leg first then. In your opinion, do you think the leak was severe or minor? It's ok if you don't know, just an estimate should be fine." Alice retracted the skin on her hands and quickly reformed it out of habit, she’d already taken care of static on her clothes and hands before entering, but sometimes she would still find minor current on her fingers that she could dissipate through her chassis. 

“I think it’s somewhere in the middle. I lost one quarter litre of thirium, but I’ve had worse leaks, before..” Jasper’s sentence trailed off, the man going silent, and she didn’t bother asking for the rest. Many androids older than 5 years have had more severe injuries than the one they came in for, considering the conditions of the country 5 years ago. She had seen injuries like those first hand, she understood the hesitance to discuss the time.

“Ok. Would you be more comfortable sitting or lying down? I can work with either while repairing dents and thirium lines, but I’ll need you to lay down if I find your leg’s internal support has been compromised. I’ll also need you to retract your skin on your leg.” Jasper winced slightly at the words, but wordlessly lied down on the work table and followed her directions. At least he was wearing shorts, so she didn’t need to ask him to remove any clothing.

Alice lowered the table for easier reach, and began to inspect the damage. First and foremost was the open chassis, the damage was already exposed as his leg had split open, showing blue circuits and supports. She carefully refrained from grimacing as she saw the “clamp” was a fold back binder clip with the handles covered in tape to prevent it from interfering with electrical current. It’s functional, but definitely not safe. His leg’s internal support was also broken, but thankfully it was a clean break. The metal it was made of isn’t as break-resistant as more common models, but in this case that prevented it from bending or shattering rather than neatly snapping as it had here. The chassis was dented as well, but fixing dents is one of her specialties. 

With this much damage, it would be more efficient to print a new leg biocomponent, but she already knows their biocomponent printer doesn’t carry the required metal, all of the TX-400 model parts are very outdated compared to models made in the last ten years. None of the parts it has blueprints for are incompatible as well, according to their compatibility database. She’ll have to repair it all manually. It was a good thing she never let on that replacement was an option.

As she moved to look at his arm, he removed the skin without her needing to ask. Before it vanishes though, she notes that the skin on his left elbow was having trouble forming. Below the skin, there weren’t any notable problems aside from a scuff on his elbow, the flickering skin was likely due to low thirium level. She’ll check on it again after fixing the leak in his leg. 

“Alright, the dents and thirium leak aren’t awful, you’re in luck. It also looks like the major support is broken, but it’s the best kind of break we could hope for. It should be very simple to fix. I will need to weld it though, and many people find that difficult to watch. Have you run a self-damage report?” 

Alice frowned slightly as he scoffed, but hid the expression as Jasper responded. “Of course I did, I told the guy that first examined me that.” Well, that lost some respect from her, but she knew he was probably just stressed. 

“And do you have any reported damage on parts other than your left arm and leg?” Jasper shook his head no when she finished speaking, and she nodded.

“Ok, in that case I’ll start on your leg. Would you like to watch me, enter stasis or watch a movie?” Jasper elected to watch a movie, and she pointed out the TV in the corner of the room and asked him to switch the audio output to himself so the sound doesn’t serve as a distraction. He complied, and she heard the flicker of the TV turning on, but nothing else.

She pulled on her goggles, and got to work. 

* * *

After only 20 minutes, she had sealed every thirium leak. Another 25, and she had set and welded the snapped support. An extra 33 minutes had fixed all the dents in his leg and buffed the scuff on his arm. The warping around the chassis break took longer to fix in order to prevent causing more damage, but to Jasper’s surprise and delight he was leaving the emergency bay in just under 2 hours, in perfect condition. 

As she’d been returning her tools to their place, he’d stopped her to apologize for judging her earlier. She smiled, and told him it was fine. After wishing him a good day, he’d left and she finished cleaning up just in time for her break. 

She didn’t have any special plans for today, so she walked over to the break room and took a seat at the table in the corner. Pulling out her phone, she opened up a puzzle game and started swiping. 

After only 10 minutes, she’d received a direct call from Kara, on her personal line rather than her phone. She smiled, and picked up the call in her head. 

“Hi Kara. I’m on break right now, did you wanna talk?” Alice kicked her feet, quickly solving the riddle she was working on and putting her phone to sleep.

Kara’s familiar voice rang clear in her head, despite the many miles between them. “Sorry Alice, I’m just calling in between the chaos over here so I don’t have time to talk for long. One of the eighth graders emptied several cans of Axe body spray in the building, so the school’s calling a half day because the students and human staff can’t stand it.”

Alice laughed aloud, and she’s sure the amusement was audible in her response, “Someone really did that? But why?”

“Well sometimes kids just like causing trouble, and some of them know they have a nasty assignment due tomorrow that they haven’t done yet,” Kara said in a teasing tone. “But even though- Yes, just one minute please! Sorry, Mrs. Jefferson was asking for something. The reason I called is that the school will be shut down for a few days while they try to ventilate the building, so I can be in town tomorrow instead of waiting for the weekend. How does that sound Alice?”

Alice beamed, already planning what they could do. “That’s great Kara! I wanted to go to this one cafe that Talie recommended. We could visit on my break tomorrow and have a movie night when I get home from work. Does that sound good?” 

Alice could almost hear Kara smiling as she responded, “Of course Alice, just send me the location so I know where to go? I- Oh no. I’ll.. have to call back, there’s- Camdon no! Sorry, have to go, love you Alice.”

“Love you too Kara!” Alice grinned even as the call ended, knowing she’d be hearing a really good story tomorrow. She can’t wait. 

* * *

Alice packed up her things, waving to River as she exited the lobby and entered her autotaxi. She typed in the address of the park 5 minutes from her house, avoiding interfacing with the taxi, and sent the cash wirelessly. She sat back with a sigh as it took off. 

She did good work, but it could definitely be tiring mentally. Some people are rude, and it was never fun to see people injured or malfunctioning, but it’s normally just small fixes and check ups, cases like Jasper weren’t as common these days. 

Still, she was looking forward to going home and relaxing. She had a sewing project calling her name, and it was game night tonight. She couldn’t wait to reign supreme at Uno yet again. 

When she arrived at the park, Alice stepped out of the auto-taxi and cut across the grass to the other side. A dozen or so birds flew away as she walked by, though as always the pigeons boldly approached in search of food. Too bad for them, she had nothing today.

She ignored the chorus of cooing as she left the park, and continued down the street towards home. Once she arrived at the house, she pulled out her key and unlocked the door, stepping inside. As she hung her work jacket on the coat hanger, she noticed Luther’s shoes on the mat. Looks like he got home early.

Alice set her bag by the door, and wandered into the living room, where she saw Luther sat at the table with headphones on. She walked around the table, into his line of sight, and waved. 

Luther, working on what looked like a PC circuit board, straightened up and pulled down his headphones. He smiled warmly, eyes crinkling, and greeted her. “Alice, welcome home. How was work today?” 

She bounced on her heels as Luther put down his tools to address her with more attention. “It was work, I guess. I fixed a broken leg support today. But Luther! Kara called, she said she can come back tomorrow because the school is shut down for a few days. Can you come to lunch with us tomorrow?” 

Luther winced, and Alice blinked. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can make it. I need to go in around noon tomorrow for an important project. The one with the model printer, remember?” 

She did remember, Luther had told her and Kara about on Sunday, if he got the prototype printer’s presentation just right he could end up getting promoted. It’s a little sad he won’t make it for lunch, but well, “Kara’s going to stay in town until Monday, so it’s not a big deal, don’t worry.” 

Luther huffed, and his eyes seemed to sparkle. “You know Alice, you really have grown up. I still remember when you spent every minute of the day beside me or Kara, you were always so upset if we weren’t both there.”

“You’re so sentimental,” she teased, smirking as Luther shook his head lightly. “Really though, even if I’m not upset doesn’t mean I won’t be happy when we’re all together. Speaking of, do you still have time for a game tonight, and movie night tomorrow?” 

“I always have time for game night Alice. This time, I will win.”

Alice grinned.  
  


Luther did not win.

* * *

The next day, when it was time for her break, she stepped out of the repair wing and strolled down the sidewalk to the cafe, after double checking with Kara that she’d be there. 

She was halfway there, about to cross the road when a stranger stopped her. The stranger appeared female, with a brown bob cut and concerned expression. “Excuse me, are you lost?”

Ah, one of those. Fun.

“No, I know where I’m going.” Alice took a step away to cross the road, and the stranger’s hand grabbed her shoulder. Ugh, damn it. Alice pulled out of the grip, but the stranger didn’t get the message and kept talking, blocking her way.

“What about your guardians? Monroe is a dangerous place for a kid to wander alone. Do you need someone to walk with you? My name’s Hannah by the way.” The stranger seemed genuinely worried, and when Alice speedily glanced her over, she didn't seem to give off any red flags. Just a well meaning citizen, probably. Those were always the worst to deal with, at least the creeps didn’t make her feel bad.

“No thank you. I’m meeting up with someone soon, and it’s not far, I’ll be fine alone.” Alice stepped around the woman, and frowned as she saw she missed her light to cross. Rather than waiting at the light with the woman, she crosses the other way, ignoring the “are you sure??” that followed her. It took a bit longer since she needed to use two more crosswalks to get back on track, but it was worth it. 

This sort of thing happened a lot. People with good (and also sometimes bad) intentions see that she looks like a child, and try to help her. Offer to give her a ride, escort her, find her parents, and so on. Sure, it’s kind of them, but it gets annoying pretty quickly when it happens all the time, several times a day on some occasions. She has a well paying job and helps pay the mortgage on her house, she can cross a street by herself. 

* * *

When she enters the little cafe, it is clear that she’s the first one here. Alice looks around, and ends up choosing a table by the windows, sitting sideways on her chair and considering the menu. Perks of being a child android is that she can eat, even if she doesn’t need to. Good food is worth the hassle, in her opinion. She’s had sandwiches before, but she doesn’t feel like anything heavy today, so the hot drinks are of more interest to her. 

She’s just decided on the hazelnut coffee when she notices Kara walk in, and waves her over. Kara quickens her pace, speed walking over to her and immediately wrapping her in a hug, which she returns heartily. 

“Alice! It’s been a while little fox.” After a moment, Alice releases her grip and Kara follows suit, settling across from Alice. "How’s work been this week, nothing too bad right?"

Alice shakes her head, looking toward the line at the register. "Work is work, I guess. I changed someone's optical units the other day for ones with a new eye color, that was cool! Other than that, just the usual.” There was only one person in line, and three off to the side waiting for their orders, probably a 2-6 minute wait. Not bad. “I’m going to buy some coffee, do you want me to ask if they carry thirium, or are you good?"

“It’s nice when we drink together, but I don’t need any right now. Thanks for asking though.” Kara smiled softly, but Alice could see the edge of stress she always tries to hide. Alice doesn’t push it, she just enters the lineup and waits for the person in front of her to finish ordering. 

When it's her turn to order, the attendant's eyebrows raise slightly, but otherwise the teen behind the counter doesn't react much. "Welcome to Chip’s Cafe, no, we do not serve chips, how can I help you?"

Alice snorts, and can't help the amusement in her tone as she responds, "Hi, could I get a large hazelnut latte for that table over there? Also, do you carry thirium here? 

The attendant blinks a few times, looking at Kara over at the table and then at Alice herself. Then he picks up a notepad, pen poised to write."We do carry thirium, we were conceived as an android friendly cafe. So, one large Hazelnut Latte, and some thirium, how many ounces? 

Alice shakes her head, clarifying, “Actually I’m not ordering thirium, I just wanted to know if you had some here for future reference. Just the latte please.” 

The attendant nods, and jots down the order on the paper before inputting it to the register. "That'll be $6.76. Do you have money, or is your, uh, company over there paying?" The teen looks like he's thinking about something, puzzlement evident on his face. 

"I can pay, I have wireless." He clicks something behind the counter, and a light flicks on as he pulls out a tap machine. Ignoring the machine, Alice transmits the money plus a $2 tip through the connection, and thanks the attendant before heading back to her table. Kara seems to stare through the air, probably checking on something online. Alice takes a seat, and waits for her to finish. 

It was either something fast, or Kara noticed her, as she zones back in rather quickly. “Hey Alice, sorry, I got an email, I was just drafting a response. Where were we?” 

“You just asked about work. So now it’s my turn, I have to know, what’s the full story about yesterday?” 

Kara’s eye gains that small little tick it always has when she talks about Brady. Oh boy. “Well, even though we don’t officially know who caused it, we all have our suspicions. Anyway, on my end, it started only 5 minutes before the Spanish test. The class was putting in some last minute review for the vocab test, when suddenly some students stopped talking. 

“A few started making faces, and others coughed too. It was a bit strange, but I didn’t think much of it until they started plugging their noses and glaring at Tanner, who was also making a strange face, like he’d smelled something awful. Before I could even ask someone to explain, I heard a metallic rattle in the hallway.” 

Kara leans back in her chair, lightly gripping the table before leaning in once more. “I opened the classroom door, and almost immediately the kids’ grumbling escalated to shouts of disgust and even some gagging. Clattering around in the hallway, there was a large can of Axe, nozzle tapped down and ejecting a constant stream of body spray. So much that the lockers were glistening and the floor was wet.” Alice snickered at this, and the stress weighing down Kara’s smile finally began to lessen. Kara continued.

“I asked some kids to open the windows while I went out to untape the can, but the principle ended up announcing that everyone had to leave the building. It turns out that they used at least another three cans, and some parts of the school were so thick with it people were wheezing. And guess who was conveniently absent from class when this all happened?”

“Brady?” 

“Brady.” With a huff, Kara’s arms drop to her sides and she tilts her head upward to the ceiling, closing her eyes and releasing a loud breath. Alice can’t help but laugh, and Kara ends up chuckling with her. 

Alice’s drink arrives, and she scoops up the latte, eager to try it. A tentative sip greets her tongue with a warm and milky light roast, a ghost of hazelnut and cinnamon dancing on her tongue. “Mmmm, this is _so good_. I need to come here more often.” 

When she lowers her mug, Alice notices Kara’s mirth has faded, and she was looking intently as Alice as she drank. 

Without hesitation, Alice offers a hand, skin pulled back. Kara pauses for a second before meeting her interface. Alice doesn’t dig, even if she’s curious, she just sends the taste over to Kara. Delight blooms in Kara’s eyes as she experiences the soothing flavour of the coffee. “What do you think?” 

“You’re right Alice, it’s very good.” Kara withdraws from the short interface with a pat of Alice’s hand. “Anyway, Corbin thought that it was Brady and Amil, since Amil was also absent from his class. We don’t know for sure yet, but the staff have decided on a two week suspension rather than an expulsion for whoever the guilty parties are. The camera footage is being looked over tonight apparently.” 

“What about Camdon? You mentioned him before hanging up yesterday.”

“Oh, that wasn’t nearly as big of an ordeal. Camden just forgot his game and tried to run back inside to get it. I got him back with the class, and I ended up bringing out a few things the students forgot. After about 30 minutes everyone was sent home early. Well, all the students anyway.” With that, Kara laughs, but it sounds a bit more forced. Maybe it is time to push.

Alice leans over the table slightly, and quiets her tone as she asks, “Is everything alright Kara? As funny as it is, it still must have been a lot to deal with.” 

Kara shifted on her seat, averting her eyes for a second before meeting Alice’s questioning gaze. “I’m fine Alice, don’t worry about me. It wasn’t a big deal, I just had to meet with the other staff for a while to determine how school scheduling would be handled.” 

“Are you sure? There’s nothing else?”

“Of course not, I love my job, and I love the kids. What more could I ask for, other than a job closer to home.” Kara tries for a smile, but Alice could tell a mile away that it was insincere. Still, she doesn’t say anything, ready to drop it if Kara was intent on avoiding the topic, but then Kara sighs. “I’m sorry Alice. I’ve never been any good at lying to you. But I really am fine, just, a little burnt out, you know? But I can’t complain.”

“Why can’t you?” 

Kara blinks, her weary expression gaining a confused air, and Alice elaborates. “Why can’t you complain? Yeah, you like doing what you do, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t taxing sometimes. You have long shifts and tons of paperwork after hours, five days a week and sometimes even more. Grading, lesson plans, trip forms, even incident reports depending on what your students did that day.”

“Well, that’s my job Alice. It’s what I wanted for years, and I’m finally working as a full time teacher instead of as a substitute. I’ll get over it.” Kara goes to rub Alice’s hair, but Alice pulls out from under her hand, not willing to let the conversation die yet. 

“But it’s your first year, isn’t that stressful? Kara, you’re allowed to wish things were easier. Like, wishing Brady didn’t flush a bouncy ball down the toilet and break it. Or, wishing Graham listened to you more.” 

Kara was quiet for a moment, but eventually relented. “You’re right, Alice. It’s just hard, sometimes. Things are so much better than they were, it just doesn’t feel right to want more. Does that make sense?”

“Of course it does! I feel like that sometimes too. But the feeling always goes away eventually, you know? And things will get better for sure. Next semester is an all new class, all new first impression, and another year of practice, right? You’ll figure out how to be the best teacher eventually, and how to get all the kids to listen and learn, and that’ll be one less thing to stress about. But that’s then, and right now you’re allowed to be stressed.”

“Funny, I’m feeling more relaxed already.” Kara smiles again, but this time it looks more real. Hopefully she really is feeling at least a bit better. “Thanks Alice. I’m not used to going to you to talk about this sort of thing, I still think it’s supposed to be the other way around sometimes. I’m still not used to you being all grown up.” 

“That doesn’t mean I don’t need you. It just means we can support each other now.” 

“Yes, I guess that’s true.” Kara rests her elbow on the table and changes the topic, her tone upbeat once more. “So, has Luther won any game nights yet? Even one?” 

Alice grins, slightly smug, as she describes exactly how she beat Luther at Monopoly last night, and the look on his face as he landed on her hotel on Boardwalk and went bankrupt. She and Kara continue to chat for another 15 minutes, Alice intermittently sipping at her latte, before her boss calls her back to work early. 

Kara said she was going back to the house, and asked if Alice would be home for movie night. Alice promised she’d be there, she wouldn’t miss it for the world. And with one more hug, Alice walked out of the cafe, and headed back to work.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the gorgeous art that BJtheBreaker made, which served as the inspiration of this whole fic. Remember to check out [BJtheBreaker / starke_raving_studios's Art for this RBB Project](https://www.instagram.com/p/CCfCtYlFMkI/?igshid=18o71uh27vskp)!
> 
> Here's a few quick snippets of info for anyone who's curious about some story background.
> 
> Jasper and Gregory had a joint origin of naming (for the fic, not in universe). A friend recommended the name Jasper, but I didn't know what to name Jasper's friend. Then I remembered that on the New Era discord server, there was a brief in-joke about Gregory, RK900's pet rock. One of the idea's for Connor's pet rock was Jasper, so Jasper and Gregory the rocks became Jasper and Gregory, the androids dense enough to use a metal binder clip in an active electrical circuit to stem a vital fluid leak.
> 
> This fic takes place in Monroe, Michigan. In this universe, the gang made it to the guarded checkpoint before the bus, and instead of approaching the man with a gun that's guarding a heavily protected border, they realized it would probably be a lot easier to lay low and escape to another city in the US.
> 
> More fun facts coming soon, so long as people are interested.


End file.
